A turret assembly may be utilized on a wheeled or a tracked military vehicle and may be configured to provide an ingress or egress for a user from the roof of the vehicle. Traditional turret assemblies include a weapons mount or adapter for mounting various military weapons, such as guns or other similar weapons. The weapons mount may be in a fixed position on the turret assembly and allows a user to access the weapon through an opening in the roof of the vehicle. Traditional turret assemblies are also configured to rotate relative to the vehicle on ball bearings such that a user can operate a mounted weapon in 360 degrees of azimuth. Such turret assemblies often have a fixed height.
Vehicles including traditional turret assemblies can be difficult to transport due to the overall height of the assembly on the vehicle. Thus, the weapons mount may be fastened to the turret assembly after the vehicle has been transported to a location where the vehicle will be deployed, which can be time consuming and present various theater-related challenges. Furthermore, the fixed weapons mount may be configured to accommodate only users having similar biological traits, such as similar heights and weights, due to the fixed position of the weapons mount relative to the opening of the turret assembly.
Many turret assemblies include ball bearings for rotating the turret assembly relative to the vehicle. Such ball bearing assemblies generally require regular maintenance, such as lubrication, repair, or replacement. Moreover, the ball bearings may be prone to contamination in harsh environments, such as in the desert, and can result in rough and unpredictable rotation of the turret assembly.